


Boldly We Go

by AXEe



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Gen, Post-Dominion War (Star Trek), Slight Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-09
Packaged: 2019-07-27 04:24:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16211348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AXEe/pseuds/AXEe
Summary: The year 2401, the Alpha Quadrant is still struggling to recover from the horrors of the Dominion War.   In the wake of the devastation, the Federation fast-tracked Bajor’s admission as well as eventually admitting Cardassia two years later, causing some understandable resentment among the Bajorans.As the anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Bajor nears Orion pirates—aided by a group of Cardassian dissidents who seek to return to the glory days of the Cardassian Union—raid a Federation outpost and steal the plans for the quantum slipstream drive brought back from the Delta Quadrant by the USS Voyager.  If they can finally crack the secret to quantum slipstream travel then the peace that the Federation has struggled to maintain will be destroyed.    To that end a new ship is launched…





	1. These Are the Voyages...

**Author's Note:**

> Some more original Trek fic from me. Enjoy :=)
> 
> Warning: There is a _slight_ mention of Janeway/Seven of Nine (J/7) in here, but not enough to warrant a mention in the tags (its more of a passing reference than an explicit mention). Either way, if mentions of a time where LGBTQ individuals will be accepted unconditionally by the human race offend you, please, go away :=)

******

**_“My goal is simple. It is a complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is and why it exists at all”_**  
\--Stephen Hawking

******

_Space._

_The final frontier._

_My home._

_It is where I was born._

_And it is where I will die. Whenever that will be._

_Who am I you ask? Well, now that’s a little hard to answer, mostly because there are three, equally valid, answers to that question. The only difference between them is a matter of opinion._

_To some people my name is ‘Catlin Holmes’, Starfleet Captain and pride of the Federation, a rising star and symbol of a new age of peace and cooperation rising from the ashes and blood of the Dominion War. But to others I’m the U.S.S._ Artemis _(NCC-1906-J), pride of the Federation, a rising star and symbol of a new age of peace and cooperation rising from the ashes and blood of the Dominion War._

_And to others, I’m both._

_Confusing, I know. Sorry about that._

_But I’m getting ahead of myself here. Far too ahead of myself._

_To properly explain who I am and where I come from, I have to go back, back to the beginning._

_It all started on Deep Space 42, a classified Starfleet R &D facility, where a group of unlikely Starfleet officers were summoned to a classified briefing…_


	2. New Fronters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update! Chapter TWO! Enjoy! :=)

******

**Deep Space 42  
Location: CLASSIFIED**

Commander Gilora Moset stepped out of the shuttle, straightening her shoulders under her uniform as she did. The Cardassian woman heaved quiet sigh at the obvious surprise and distrust on the faces of the shuttlebay crew as she passed. Only a teenager when the Dominion War had broken out, she had been part of a secret of group of Cardassians who had developed a fascination for Bajoran culture following the end of the Occupation of Bajor, with some—including Gilora herself—even going so far as to converting to the Bajoran faith.

Orphaned during the Battle of Cardassia which had ended the war, Gilora had been taken aboard a Federation ship during the Federation-led recovery efforts. A Bajoran Starfleet officer had taken pity on her and had assisted in her physical and psychological recovery, eventually even encouraging and sponsoring Gilora’s entry into Starfleet, resulting in Gilora becoming the first of Cardassian to do so. Even more surprising that same Bajoran also became her wife.

Much to the surprise of nearly everyone at Starfleet Academy—Gilora included—she had shown remarkable dedication to Starfleet’s ideals and principles, quickly rising through the ranks to eventually become a commander and was now on the shortlist to be first officer of at least a dozen starships.

Absently smoothing out her uniform (and ignoring the continued stares from the dock workers) she stepped forward and promptly collided with another person. Recovering, she looked up in surprise as she was confronted with a Klingon woman in Starfleet sciences blue and bearing the insignia of a lieutenant.

The Klingon looked her up and down, smirking

“Commander” she greeted, nodding politely

“Lieutenant” Gilora coughed out, feeling slightly unnerved by the Klingon woman’s smile. Like all things Klingon, it wasn’t a particularly _pleasant_ smile. But, much to her surprise, the Klingon held out a hand.

“Lt. M’ral,” she introduced herself “ _doctor_ M’ral. And yourself, Commander?”

“Commander Gilora Moset,” Gilora replied as they shook hands “I’m sorry, Lieutenant, but…did you say…‘doctor’?”

“Surprised?” the Klingon chuckled “not all Klingons are interested in fighting. Some of us wish to heal rather than kill,” she glanced at the PADD in Gilora’s hand “you’re here for a ‘classified’ assignment I take it?”

Gilora nodded

“I am. You too, I take it?”

Dr. M’ral nodded

“It seems we’ll be serving together,” she remarked as she nodded to the turbolift “after you, Commander” she invited. Entering the turbolift, Gilora glanced at the Klingon woman in the sudden awkward silence that followed

“Lieutenant,” she began “I hope you won’t be…uncomfortable serving under a Cardassian”

Dr. M’ral chuckled

“As long as you don’t have any objections to being treated by a Klingon” she retorted

“No” Gilora answered. Actually she did feel somewhat uncomfortable with the thought, but was determined to overcome it

“Liar” the Klingon chuckled.

The two women glanced at each other and then chuckled

“I think we’ll get along just fine, Lieutenant” Gilora remarked as the turbolift opened. Stepping out they were met by an Andorian woman and a Vulcan woman, both in operations gold, the Adorian wore the insignia of a lieutenant commander and stepped forward

“Commander Moset, Lieutenant M’ral,” she greeted, nodding politely as her antenna did the same “I’m Lt. Cmdr. Anishatalla Tir’an,” she introduced herself “this is Lt. T’Mel,” she nodded to the Vulcan woman besides her, who nodded politely at the two women, as Commander Tir’an gestured down the corridor “this way please” she instructed.

The four women walked in silence to the end of the corridor, where two Starfleet Marines flanked the doors. One held out a PADD

“Dermal imprints,” he ordered in a tone that brokered no arguments. Stepping forward, each woman pressed their thumb to the PADD. Glancing at it, the Marine entered a series of commands before nodding “you’re clear” he announced as his companion lowered her phaser rifle and then unlocked the door.

Entering the room, the women found themselves in a briefing room of some sort, the lone occupant sitting at the table stood up

“Ladies, welcome,” Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway greeted “please, sit down,” she invited “now,” she began as the women sat down “you’re probably all wondering what, exactly, you’re all doing here”

“The thought had crossed our minds” Gilora remarked

Admiral Janeway smirked as she turned to the viewscreen and pulled up a diagram of a starship

“This is the U.S.S. _Artemis-J_ ,” she explained “a Stephen Hawking-class vessel. One of several new ships being launched as Starfleet and the Federation tries to go back to its original mandate of exploration. Now,” she turned back to the assembled officers “you’ve all been selected to serve on the _Artemis_ because you each have a unique talent or skill. Commander Moset, Lieutenant M’ral, the first Cardassian and the second Klingon to join Starfleet. Lieutenant T’Mel, a Vulcan/Betazoid hybrid. And Commander Tir’an, graduated top of your class at the Academy. I’m not going to sugarcoat it, ladies, the _Artemis_ is intended to be assigned to explore the Beta Quadrant, far beyond where either the Romulans or the Kingons have explored. You’ll be encountering things that no one from the Federation has seen before. Now,” she turned back to the viewscreen “the reason for all this secrecy,” the schematics for the _Artemis_ vanished to be replaced with a string of computer code

“As you may know, during _Voyager’s_ …,” she chuckled “…detour, our original doctor was killed and, as a result, our EMH was left active for the rest of the trip home. As a result, he expanded far beyond his original programming to achieve sentience. Now, when Starfleet first learned of this, scientists were intrigued at the possibilities and, with the support of the Federation Council, began to research the possibility of creating a holoprogram that could adapt and grow. Unfortunately, the Dominion War put a hold on that. But, in the wake of the war and the loss of so many officers, the idea of creating a holographic officer to replace key officers in an emergency began to gain ground. On _Voyager_ we tried this idea for ourselves, adding various command and tactical subroutines to The Doctor’s program,”

She gestured to the viewscreen

“Following our return from the Delta Quadrant, the Daystrome Institute and the Soong Foundation argued fervently in favor of The Doctor’s sentience—of, which, I was a key witness for the defense—now during these tedious back and forth the idea of creating a _permanent_ position for a holoprogram was tossed around. Instead of replacing an injured or deceased officer, the hologram would actually fill that position from the beginning of the ship’s launch. The idea being to explore the limits and different paths of how a sophisticated holo-matrix could achieve sentience”

She paused when Gilora raised her hand

“Forgive me, Admiral, but do you mean to say that we’ll be serving alongside hologram?” she asked

Admiral Janeway smirked

“Not _alongside_ a hologram, Commander, _under_ a hologram,” she cleared her throat “computer, activate the command and tactical hologram,”

A hologram of a Human woman in command red bearing the insignia of a captain suddenly appeared

“Ladies,” Admiral Janeway smiled “meet your new captain. The CTH. Or the ‘Command and Tactical Hologram’.”

“But you can call me ‘Catlin Holmes’.” the hologram smiled…


	3. The Ship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter THREE! Now before we began, a bit of backstory. I'm ignoring the way that Voyager ended, so in this universe Voyager got home without any future technology or help. As to _how_ they got home, I'll leave that up to you.
> 
> Now then, enjoy :=)

******

The assembled group of officers stared at the hologram now standing before them. In appearance it resembled a Human woman, with short red hair and bright blue-green eyes and fair skin with a light smattering of freckles. Smirking, it cocked a hand on its hip

“You girls just going to stand there or what?” it asked

“As you can see,” Admiral Janeway picked up “she’s already developed quite a personality,” she reached forward and touched the LCARS controls on the briefing table, a small rotating hologram of a starship appearing above the table’s surface. In appearance it resembled a Sovereign-class ship but had four nacelles instead of the usual two.

“Now,” the Admiral began “this is the _Artemis_ ,” she explained as the hologram slowly rotated, showing the ship from all angles “Stephen Hawking-class. Sixteen decks. Crew compliment of 150. Tri-cyclic life-support systems. Bio-neural circuitry. Top cruising speed of warp 9.99 for nearly twenty-four hours,” she tapped another series of commands into the interface and the ship split into three sections, the primary hull followed by the two secondary hulls, each section having its own set of warp nacelles “…and, multi-vector assault mode” the Admiral continued

“Like the Prometheus-class” Lt. Cmdr. Tir’an picked up

“Yes,” the holographic captain nodded “and like the Prometheus, the ship also has holo-emitters placed throughout its interior”

“Logical,” Lt. T’Mel spoke up “given that its captain is a hologram”

The hologram smirked and nodded

“ _Very_ logical,” it agreed “however, unlike the Prometheus-class, the Stephen Hawking-class was envisioned a multi-mission explorer, not a tactical ship” it added

“In this case, the idea was that, in the event of an attack, the vessel can separate into each section,” Admiral Janeway picked up “Vectors One and Three,” she gestured to the primary hull and the bottom most section of the secondary hull “would engage the attacker while Vector Two would carry the ship’s civilian compliment to safety”

“So crewmembers can bring their families aboard?” Gilora asked, wondering how she was going to explain this to her wife.

“Yes, within reason,” Admiral Janeway nodded “keep in mind, _Artemis_ isn’t a Galaxy-class starship, she, and the rest of her class, were inspired by the success of the Intrepid-class”

“Specifically _Voyager’s_ little detour into the Delta Quadrant” the holographic captain picked up with a teasing chuckle

“She’s a small ship,” Admiral Janeway picked up “built for exploration and scientific study, not luxury”

“When do we leave?” Lt. Cmdr. Tir’an asked, her antenna pricked up with obvious interest

“Right now,” the Admiral answered “report to Docking Bay 12 and await further instructions. Your families will be notified, and provided that they’ve passed the security check, will be brought here. Dismissed”

As the officers stood up and nodded politely as the Admiral left, they slowly turned to study the holographic captain, who sat down and put her feet up on the table, grinning.

“This should be fun” she remarked…

******

**Docking Bay 12**

Docking Bay 12 was small, it’s embarkation room—the official term for what was really more of a cafeteria—even smaller. Grabbing a cup of raktijino from the replicator, Dr. M’ral came over to where Lt. T’Mel was sitting

“May I join you?” she asked

The Vulcan woman looked up, moving with the slow, measured dancer-like grace that nearly all Vulcans moved with

“Of course, Doctor” she invited

“So, tell me,” M’ral began as she sat down “what will your position be on the Artemis?”

“I am the vessel’s chief engineer” T’Mel replied as she delicately sipped her tea

“Ah, you must be excited then,” M’ral remarked “a brand new ship, with brand new engines”

“Excitement is an emotion,” T’Mell dismissed “I am…intrigued by the vessel’s capabilities” she corrected

“But you’re not entirely Vulcan,” M’ral pointed out. She held up the PADD in her hand “I had a look at your medical records. Your father is Betazoid, you mother Vulcan”

“That is correct,” T’Mel nodded “but I was raised on Vulcan. Therefore I am Vulcan”

The Klingon chuckled

“Perhaps” she allowed

“And you, Doctor?” T’Mel asked “how did a Klingon become a doctor?”

“A childhood fascination I suppose,” M’ral remarked “I remember going with my grandfather on hunting trips and always being fascinated by the inner workings of the animals. Then, once the Dominion came, our warriors needed to keep fighting, and despite how dishonorable it may have been, I dedicated myself to keeping them in fighting shape” she explained

“And how did you come to join Starfleet?” T’Mel wondered

The Klingon smirked humorlessly

“I’d grown tired of war and blood,” she explained “that would make me a coward in the eyes of most Klingons. But to me it is far more honorable and courageous to approach a fallen enemy and say ‘let me help you’.”

“A wise notion” T’Mel modded

“Ladies,”

The two looked up as Commander Anishatalla Tir’an came over

“Mind if I join you?” the Andorian asked

“Of course,” T’Mel nodded as the Andorian woman sat down “Commander, if I may, what will your position aboard the _Artemis_ be?” T’Mel inquired

“I’m the tactical officer,” Anishatalla replied “which means that I’ll also be the head of security too”

“A logical posting for an Andorian” T’Mel remarked

“We’re still missing a helmsman and an operations officer” M’ral remarked

“Maybe we’ll meet them on the ship” Anishatalla remarked with a ‘shrug’ of her antenna

“Perhaps” T’Mel agreed as an alarm blared out

“ _All personnel for NCC-1906-Juilet report to runabout_ Amazon _. Final boarding in progress_ ” the computer announced

“That’s us” Anishatalla quipped as she stood up, the others following suit…

******

The _Amazon_ was a standard Danube-class runabout, nothing particular about it as it left the docking bay and looped around the station to behind the gas giant that Deep Space 42 orbited. Slowly, a lone drydock came into view, worker bees buzzing about as the majority of the vessel within filled the viewports.

Commander Gilora Moset slowly stood up and leaned over the co-pilot’s seat, eager to see the vessel that she would become first officer off. The _Artemis_ gleamed in the darkness like a work of art, its hull was curved almost like a sculpture, giving the impression that it was built for speed

“Magnificent” she breathed

The runabout’s pilot, a young female Trill, smirked

“That she is, Commander,” she remarked “that she is,” her smirk widened into a full-blown grin “and I get to pilot her”

“Ah,” Gilora chuckled “so you’re the new helmsman”

“I am,” the Trill nodded “Ensign Kala Pren” she introduced herself

“Fascinating,” T’Mel remarked “are you joined, Ensign?” she asked

“No, afraid not,” Kala shook her head as the console chirped “we’re approaching the security field,” she reported as she cued the comlink “this is runabout _Amazon_ to _Artemis_ docking control, we’re on final approach, requesting permission to dock”

“ _Artemis docking control to runabout Amazon, request granted_ ”

“Acknowledged _Artemis_ ,” Kala replied before she closed the channel and then looked up at her passengers “here we go” she grinned as the runabout swooped low over the larger vessel’s primary hull, allowing its passengers to get a perfect view of the lettering stamped onto the hull

#  **U.S.S. ARTEMIS  
NCC-1906-J**

“Final approach” Kala muttered as she guided the runabout into the main shuttlebay at the very rear of the vessel, the force field flickering as the small vessel passed through it and gently landed…


	4. The Mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter FOUR! Enjoy! :=)

******

The bridge, like the rest of the _Artemis_ , was fitted with holo-emitters, allowing its holographic captain to move around the ship. Exiting the turbolift, Gilora took a moment to marvel at the space.

The room was quite small for a vessel the size of the _Artemis_. The command area was in a circular recessed area, with the first officer and captain’s chairs, like on an Intrepid-class ship, side-by-side and level with each other, with the captain seated on the right and the first officer on the left. Directly behind the command seating, occupying a freestanding station which was incorporated into a railing that encircled the area, were the tactical and ops stations.

Directly in front of the viewscreen was a combined helm and conn, while the rest of the bridge was ringed by various other consoles. The turbolift was at the rear of the bridge, directly aft of the tactical and ops station, while on the left, at a forty-five degree angle, were another set of doors marked ‘ready room’, while directly opposite those doors, also at a forty-five degree angle, were a third set of doors marked ‘briefing room’, while at the front of the bridge, on either side at a forty-five degree angle were two more turbolifts.

Stepping onto the Bridge proper, Gilora was greeted by a young Human/Klingon hybrid in operations gold with a single pip on her collar identifying her as an ensign.

“Commander Moset, the Captain would like to see you and the others in the briefing room” the petty officer explained

Gilora nodded

“Thank you, Ensign…?”

“Paris, ma’am,” the Ensign nodded “Ensign Miral Paris,” she introduced herself. She gestured towards the briefing room “this way, please”

The briefing room was a small rectangular-shaped room with a table that seated perhaps ten people at most with three large viewports showing an expansive view of the space behind the vessel. Ensign Kala Pren was already waiting as Gilora, Lt. T’Mel, Dr. M’ral, Lt. Tir’an, Ensign Paris and Gilora all filled in.

As the doors slid shut, the holographic Captain Holmes appeared

“Are we all sitting comfortably?” she asked with a grin as everyone sat down “good,” she turned to the small viewscreen on the wall, pulling up an image of a Starfleet research station

“This is Starbase 30, located in the Ay’na Sector, on our border with the Klingon Empire,” she began “officially, it’s an R&D facility that serves as an annex for the Theoretical Propulsion Group”

“And…‘unofficially’?” Dr. M’ral asked

“Unofficially, its sole purpose is trying to crack the secret of the quantum slipstream drive,” Ensign Paris picked up “ever since _Voyager_ brought back the data they collected on the drive, Starfleet R &D’s been trying to decipher it for years, with no success”

“Ah,” Gilora nodded “Paris. You’re Tom Paris’ daughter” she realized

The half-Klingon smirked and nodded

“Ensign Paris was part of the team that designed my program,” Captain Holmes picked up “both she and Ensign Pren have been with the Artemis Project from the beginning. Miral here probably knows more about this ship than I do, and I _am_ the ship,” she nodded towards the viewscreen “now. Two days ago a group of Orion pirates raided the facility. They killed most of the staff and downloaded its entire computer core”

“The Orions are thieves and slavers,” Dr. M’ral pointed out “they would be unable to decipher something as complex as the quantum slipstream drive”

“True,” Lt. T’Mel nodded “however, if they are able to decipher even a portion of the data and realize its significance…”

“…they could sell it to the highest bidder” Gilora realized

“Romulans, Ferengi,” Lt. Tir’an shook her head, antenna drooping “and that’s just to name a few”

“Its worse” the holographic captain interjected. Turning back to the viewscreen, she pulled up what appeared to be security footage from the raid on Starbase 30. The image froze and then isolated one of the faces of the raiders, magnifying and enhancing the image

“A Cardassian” Gilora breathed

“Four of them,” Miral corrected. She tapped a control on the table’s surface, bringing up a Starfleet Intelligence file on the viewscreen “they’re part of a group that calls themselves the ‘True Way’,” she explained “they started out as one of the groups opposing Cardassia’s alliance with the Dominion, but, after the war ended with Cardassia in ruins, they started to attract more and more fanatic members”

“They opposed Cardassia’s probationary admission into the Federation” Captain Holmes explained

“So did Bajor” Gilora reminded them

“Regardless,” Captain Holmes interrupted “we cannot allow something as powerful as the quantum slipstream drive to fall into the hands of terrorists. Especially terrorists as directly opposed to the Federation as these ones,” she moved to the head of the table “now I know that—with the exception of Ensigns Paris and Pren—you all are apprehensive about having a hologram for a captain. No doubt some of you view me as a glorified tricorder. But you were all chosen for this assignment because you all had to deal with discrimination and doubt from others,” she glanced at Gilora and smirked “now, if you have any reservations about me or this mission, you can leave. _But_ …once you leave, that’s it”

She leaned back and waited.

The assembled staff all looked at each other before slowly nodding.

Gilora turned to the hologram

“What are your orders…Captain?” she asked

The hologram smiled

“Report to your stations and prepare for launch” she ordered…

******

Exiting the briefing room, they all took their respective posts, Lt. T’Mel leaving for Engineering and Dr. M’ral leaving for sickbay.

“Starbase has cleared us for launch,” Ensign Pren reported from the helm “disconnecting umbilical”

“Ahead one-quarter impulse” Gilora ordered

“One quarter-impulse, aye” Pren nodded as _Artemis_ slowly cleared the drydock, gleaming like a fine jewel in the starlight

“We’ve cleared drydock” Miral reported

“Lay in a course for coordinates: 012-43-6 mark 889-31-5” Captain Holmes ordered

“Coordinates laid in”

“Engage, maximum warp”

Gilora could feel the deckplates humming beneath her as the ship leapt to warp…

******

Onboard Starbase 42, watching from her office, Admiral Janeway smiled as she watched the _Artemis_ disappear into warp.

“ _Admiral,_ her assistant paged her “ _your wife is here_ ”

Smiling, Janeway reached out and tapped the console on her desk

“Send her in,” she ordered, not looking away from the viewport as the doors slid open “Seven” she greeted

“Kathryn,” the former Borg replied “I see that the _Artemis_ has launched” Seven of Nine continued as she joined Janeway by the viewport

“That she has” Janeway nodded

“You seem troubled,” Seven noted “do you doubt that Captain Holmes’ program is appropriate for the mission?”

“It’s not Catlin that worries,” Janeway grumbled “it’s the crew”

“You believe that they will be unable to accept orders from a hologram,” Seven reasoned

Janeway nodded

“They will adapt,” Seven declared “as you did with The Doctor”

Janeway smirked

“Now I remember why I married you” she chuckled…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK, so the J/7 was less of a reference and more of an actual scene :=). Oh well :=)

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you thought :=)


End file.
